The lure of sharks - A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer - page 113

of the small holding tank adjacent to the main display. To get them
out we had to jump into the two-foot-deep pool and try to grab them
as they swam by. It's quite unnerving having a six-foot bull shark push
its way between your legs while you're trying to grab another. This was
definitely in the days before government-mandated safety standards.
Somehow we managed to get all the animals into their respective
shipping containers. The only casualty was one Searama diver who in-
advertently backed up against the dive ladder in the main exhibit tank,
where a totally unnerved giant green moray, taking refuge from the
madness, had wound itself among the rungs. The moray lashed out in
self-defense and bit the diver on the shoulder. He was rushed o¤ to the
hospital bleeding profusely but was okay the next day with a great story
and some small wounds he could impress the girls with.
All the boxes of fish and the four sharks were finally loaded onto
trucks. Because it was rush hour and we were running late, the City
of Galveston provided a siren-screaming police motorcycle escort to
the airport. They took their job seriously and were practically running
motorists o¤ the road so our trucks could pass. Eventually all the heavy
boxes were on the plane and we were ready to go.
Concerned about the angle of the plane during takeo¤, we asked the
pilot to keep it as level as possible so water wouldn't spill out of the open
boxes. We then strapped ourselves into the bucket seats at the rear
of the cargo space behind our fish. The plane roared down the runway,
and as soon as it was airborne the pilot pulled back on the controls and
aimed for the sky.
Just as we had feared, water and fish poured out of the boxes. We
couldn't do a thing about it until the plane leveled o¤ a little. Then we
scrambled around grabbing fish and tossing them back into their tanks.
Kym Murphy was slipping and sliding on the deck rollers—intended
for the easy moving of heavy freight containers—trying to pick up a
slithering moray; somehow he got it back where it belonged. We then
bucketed water from full tanks into ones that had lost water. The sea-
water that had surged out mysteriously disappeared down into what-
ever was below the deck.
The cockpit was open and Bob went up to talk to the pilot. He said,
“That was a pretty impressive takeo¤. You lost two hundred gallons